Slot Of The Month – February 2018

Asgardian Stones by Net Ent

Our slot of the month for February 2018 is the brand new Asgardian Stones by Net Ent.

Asgardian Stones has 20 paylines (left to right only), a 3×5 array and a theoretical RTP of 96.31%. Most Net Ent slots have a special gimmick and Asgardian Stones is no exception – it features a new twist on the Avalanche feature from that much loved slot, Gonzo’s Quest.

As in Gonzo’s Quest, the reels in Asgardian Stones consist of stone blocks that drop from above and when a winning combo appears, the block that form it are destroyed and fresh blocks drop down until there are no more winning combos. The special thing about Asgardian Stones is that the blocks are not all the same size – all symbols (apart from the Wild symbol in the base game) can appear as Colossal symbols which are 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 in size (and function as a block of 4 or 9 symbols). Colossal symbols can land partially offscreen, but if any part of a Colossal symbol is included in a win line, the entire symbol is destroyed.

The real fun starts when a Colossal symbol drops in during the Avalanche feature. If the space immediately beneath it is not filled with regular symbols (as a result of some of them having been destroyed after forming part of a winning combo) the Colossal Crush feature comes into play. The stones in the row below are crushed, the Colossal symbol drops down a row and the multiplier meter at the side of the screen goes up by one. This continues until the row below is full or it reaches the bottom of the screen; the maximum multiplier is 4.

Asgardian Stones has a special 3×3 Colossal symbol, the Bonus Wheel, which appears on reels 3-5 only and spins after all win evaluations and Avalanches have finished. Like any other Colossal symbol, it can land partially offscreen. When all of it is onscreen, three adjacent rewards (out of a possible 8) are the result of spinning the wheel, but when it is partially offscreen, the spinner stops partially offscreen and gives out 1 or 2 awards depending on how many rows the onscreen part of the Wheel covers. 5 of the rewards are coin payouts (subject to any Colossal Crush multiplier) and 3 of them are 5 free spins. In the screenshot, the reward is 60 coins (20 + 40) and 5 free spins.

During the free spins, the Wild symbol can appear as a Colossal symbol (it doesn’t in the base game) and this can result in substantial wins, especially as it splits into 4 or 9 individual wilds and only the ones that appear in a winning combo are destroyed in the Avalanche. The Bonus Wheel itself can also appear during the free spins and trigger more free spins (this can happen a maximum of 3 times).

The bonus round in Asgardian Stones is often disappointing (especially when the bonus wheel lands partly offscreen). It does, however, have the chance to be extremely exciting – and lucrative – if the player starts off with 10 or 15 free spins or retriggers them, and colossal wilds show up. If you like Gonzo’s Quest this is definitely a slot game you’ll want to try out.